President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday designating the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room a national monument, moving to protect two of the White House’s most historic rooms from major alteration by future presidents.
The proclamation, issued under the Antiquities Act, covers the Oval Office itself, the Outer Oval Office and the Cabinet Room. It directs the Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service, to manage the rooms in a way that protects their historic character and architectural integrity, and to draw up a management plan before any substantial alteration or demolition of the spaces.
Trump said the rooms would become “a landmark for the ages” that could not be “taken down, destroyed, touched, or anything else”. He said any future attempt to change the shape of the office — “let’s not have an oval anymore, let’s make it square” — would have to go back to Congress. A future president would still be free to redecorate, he added: “They can do anything they want, as long as they do it carefully.”
The move came two days after midterm elections in which Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate, curtailing Trump’s legislative influence in the final years of his presidency. A red hat bearing the word “VETO” sat on Trump’s desk during the signing ceremony.
Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has transformed the Oval Office with gold accents, paved over the Rose Garden, demolished the East Wing to build a ballroom and resurfaced the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The changes have drawn opposition and, in some cases, court challenges. The proclamation notes the White House is already a national historic landmark but says the Oval Office “merits specific recognition and protective management as a discrete historic structure of national significance”.
As an executive action, the proclamation could be overturned by a successor, and Trump himself said it would need congressional approval to be fully binding. The move also drew a contrast with his own record on monuments: environmental groups criticised Trump after he signed orders in July shrinking two national monuments in southern Utah by more than 90 per cent.
Sources: Reuters, “Trump takes action to make sure the Oval Office stays oval” (https://985theriver.com/2026/11/05/trump-takes-action-to-make-sure-the-oval-office-stays-oval/); The White House, “Establishment of the Oval Office National Monument” (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/11/establishment-of-the-oval-office-national-monument/); The White House, “Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Establishes the Oval Office as a National Monument” (https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/11/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-establishes-the-oval-office-as-a-national-monument/).
